The second round of the TCR Italy series in Misano, Italy, was a tough one for Levente Losonczy but the Aggressive Team Italia driver still managed to increase his points tally and finish on the podium in the Under 25 category.
The Misano World Circuit, named after the late Marco Simoncelli, welcomed the TCR Italy series, in which Levente Losonczy competes for Aggressive Team Italia. The Győr-based driver arrived at the second round of the championship in a buoyant mood, having scored a podium finish at the season-opening race weekend in Imola.
Misano presented a new challenge, mainly because the rules required all Hyundai Elantra N TCR cars to carry an extra 30 kg of weight, and the qualifying session was moved to Friday evening instead of the usual Saturday morning. The cooler than usual conditions and the 35-strong field made qualifying more difficult, which later affected Levente’s whole weekend.
’Like Imola, I was aiming to finish in the top 8 in qualifying in Misano as well but this time I was unlucky and couldn’t get a clean lap in a field of 35 drivers. It was a very close competition and halfway through my best lap I caught up with an opponent and lost just enough time not to make it to the top 8,’ said Levente after qualifying.
The driver, who started the weekend in 4th place in the standings, started from 15th position in the pack, temporarily dropped back to 17th in the post-start skirmishes, then moved up lap by lap and, after three safety car phases, finished 10th and on the podium in the Under 25 classification.
According to the rules, only the order of the first 8 qualifying positions is reversed on the grid for Sunday, so Levente started the second race from 15th position again. Thanks to his great start he immediately jumped up to 11th place but after that he was crashed twice by his rivals and received a time penalty for a race situation.
’I got off to a very good start, overtook two of my opponents at Turn 1 and escaped the contacts ahead of me. At the end of Lap 1, a Honda came at me from 50 metres away without braking. I went into the gravel and lost a lot of positions. I tried to come back and taking advantage of the Safety Car phases but after the crash the car was not perfect. The pace was good at that point but after one of the restarts, I was hit again during an overtake. There was no chance of continuing, so I retired the car,’ said Levente.
’The start and the first lap went very well, these were positive things, everyone was very happy with the moves and the way I read the race, the rest was just circumstances beyond my control. Thanks for all the work this weekend to my team, Pepe Oriola, Bálint Hatvani and Fit4Race, and to my dad and our sponsors for their support!’
Based on the results of the weekend, Levente Losonczy collected 12 points and with a total 60 points he is in 8th place overall in the TCR Italy series and 3rd in the Under 25 classification for the next round of the championship, which will take place between 9-11 June. Levente will have to take his high school exams before he continues his racing season in TCR Europe at the legendary Spa-Francorchamps from 26-28 May.
